River otter families are one of the more playful and fun-to-observe animals in the wild. Dr. P and his veterinary students, along with some California friends, came across a family at a large pond in northern Michigan in June of 2024. Let’s meet the otters and our group of intrepid photographers!
Our team of visitors and veterinary students ready for action
First Glimpse
Dr. P saw an otter 10 years ago while kayaking on a river in the area. Even though Dr. P has spent considerable time out in nature in the area with many other people, he has not seen once since.
One peek and he was gone. Luckily, Dr. P was quick on the draw and got off one shot of him
Ten Years Later
Day 1
Dr. P and his group were kayaking on a lake in the early morning when they saw a dark shape in the water, and could not say for sure if it was a muskrat, beaver, or otter. They never got a good look at it because it kept its body in the water and kept diving amongst the reeds.
It was an early start towards those misty reeds in the distance as the sun was rising that day
This was our view of this rapidly moving object partly submerged in the water amongst the reeds on a hazy morning
Back at the fort Dr. P did some editing magic to remove the haze and enlarge the head. Sure looks like a river otter to us, but we are not 100% yet. Either way, we enjoyed the show during the day and left it at that.
Using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom he removed the haze and enlarged the head
Our group returning to shore after a good morning of “otter viewing”.
Day 2
We went back to that same lake at sunrise the next morning and hid in the same reeds looking for bald eagles bringing in fish from Lake Michigan for their chicks.
Our eagle watchers (MSU veterinary students) “peeling their eyes” as they scan for any bald eagle or osprey flying in
Sunny saw this one in a tree several hundred yards to our left, and as we kayaked closer Dr. P got off this shot before it flew away with its breakfast.
This looks like a lake trout, probably caught at Lake Michigan 2 miles away
Lo and behold, as we kayaked backed to the reeds and were very still, a river otter started moving back and forth right in front of us out of obvious curiosity. We were thrilled with the show he put on for a few minutes.
He poked his head out of the water several times to get a better look at us
As the sun came up we kayaked back to our put-in spot, and sure enough, he followed us. This gave Dr. P a chance to get a shot with some sun on our new friend as he swam past our kayaks.
The otter seemed to follow Sunny as we went towards shore
Dr. P got this shot from his kayak as the otter stuck his head out of the water to take a peek at us
A decade of nada, then 2 days in a row we saw an otter, and from the best we could tell, it was the same one on both days. We scored! The best was yet to come though!
Day 3
Back to the same lake for bonfires and eagle watching, and our newfound friend appears again. This time in better light.
The evening sun gave a nice reflection as our new friend swam right past us while we watched from the land
Day Whatever
Later that week Dr. P took his guests to a location he had never been at. It was adjacent to a fish hatchery where they stocked one of their ponds with brook, rainbow, and brown trout. Click here to learn more about this place.
Our group of 5 people got to the pond at around 8 AM, and with not much action going on, at around 10 AM we were ready to call it quits. That is when Nimi noticed something through the binoculars on the far bank that she thought was an otter. It disappeared before Dr. P could confirm it. To her credit she kept on scanning, and a few minutes later she saw them again, this time much closer and to our left.
Our Nat Geo wildlife team sprung into action, and in no time Mohini set up the tripod and 500 mm lens for Dr. P. He added a 1.4X teleconverter to increase the lens to 700mm (12X), and zeroed in on the otter.
Dr. P took a few seconds of video. You can hear him admonish people not to move so much since their movement on the deck on the water causes the camera to shake.
Our Camera Crew (the Oban Otters)
We gave ourselves the nickname “Oban Otters”. It is our secret, and if you want to know why we call ourselves that name then you just need to come visit us in Northern Michigan next year.
Great series of that otter with the trout, Carl! Is that “large pond” O’Neal Lake in Wilderness State Park?
It is near that area.